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Carnival drops Europe cruises for 2014

Industry giant Carnival is pulling out of Europe for 2014, citing the soaring cost of trans-Atlantic airfares. "We anticipate that airfares to Europe will remain high, and we believe our North American

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Industry giant Carnival is pulling out of Europe for 2014, citing the soaring cost of trans-Atlantic airfares.

"We anticipate that airfares to Europe will remain high, and we believe our North American passengers will continue to prefer more affordable vacation options closer to home as we move into next year," Carnival says in a statement sent to USA TODAY. "Therefore we have decided to keep ships in North America during this period rather than place capacity in Europe in 2014."

Carnival has two of its 24 ships in Europe this summer. The 2,124-passenger Carnival Legend is sailing from Dover, England and Barcelona, Spain through September, while the 3,006-passenger Carnival Sunshine is sailing out of Barcelona and Venice, Italy through October.

The line did not say where the Carnival Legend will go next summer. The Carnival Sunshine will sail to the Caribbean out of New Orleans.

The majority of Carnival's customers come from North America and are facing airfares well in excess of $1,000 this summer to reach the line's ships in Europe. The high airfares have hurt demand for the ships, forcing Carnival to discount to fill them. Some Carnival cruises in Europe this summer are selling for as little as $539 per person for nine nights, or about $60 a night.

Carnival is just the latest line to cut back on capacity in Europe as demand for cruises in the region drops. Royal Caribbean announced earlier this month that it would send just seven ships to Europe in 2014, down from nine this year and 11 in 2012.